ACA NEOGEO Stakes Winner 2

Genre: Sports (Horse Racing)

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

(Note: Much of what I had to say about the original Stakes Winner also applies here. As such, I have copied over what I said in that review and changed the pertinent details)

Stakes Winner 2 is a Horse Racing game released in 1996 in Japanese arcades, and on the NEOGEO home console in Japan that same year. This modern release sees the game coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2018, with a port to PlayStation 4 in 2019.

While Horse Racing games are extremely niche in the US, they have a history of being more popular in Japan. However, popular or not, I don’t see much of a point to Stakes Winner 2. While in theory it is a game about properly parceling out your use of your horse whip to keep your horse energized throughout the race while properly positioning yourself around the other riders, it’s not clear exactly how to best do this, leading to me winning matches without feeling like I’d done much, or losing them without knowing what I did wrong.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to score as much as they can in one run before seeing a game over screen. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game includes both English and Japanese versions, and gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

I suppose there may be players out there who “get it” and enjoy this game, but for me Stakes Winner is an absolute dud, and not a game that I feel is worth anyone’s time. Whatever skill or strategy there is in this game is unclear, and what’s left is frustrating and just not fun.

tl;dr – Stakes Winner 2 is a Horse Racing game, and much like the previous game, while there’s clearly some strategy behind proper use of your horse whip and positioning on the track, that strategy is not clear, resulting in gameplay that’s frustrating and overall feels pointless. Skip this one.

Grade: D-

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